S'mores Brownies

Lately for every family gathering on the Gailey side I've tried to make some sort of new crazy dessert. Since we're getting together this evening I decided to try out a recipe for S'mores Brownies.
Here's what you need..

1 box brownie mix
2 cups graham cracker crumbles
2 sticks butter
20 large marshmallows

First melt the butter in a 9x13 dish in the oven under really high heat (about 450* or so). Add crumbs and press together to form crust.

  

Make brownie mix, then pour over crust.

 

Bake according to the directions on the brownie box. Check brownies with a toothpick  until the toothpick comes out clean. Once they're done, add marshmallows. Set under broiler for 1-2 min. I pressed them down and set under the broiler one more time. I also think using a ton of mini marshmallows would have looked super cute on this!

 

Let cool for a couple hours before cutting and serving or else the graham cracker crust wont be ready!

 I'm hoping it'll be a big hit! I'm sure it will be for the kids. I guess we'll see in an hour! :)

Meat and potatoes

Out of every crazy little thing I've tried to cook or bake I've never made the basic meat and potatoes. After a morning of babysitting I headed to the store with every intent of buying a chuck roast. When my oldest sister makes meat and potatoes in the crock pot it's amazing! Her meat shreds and you can put it on rolls to have as sandwiches. Somehow when I left the store I must have bought a rump roast. Which does not shred. I didn't realize it was the wrong roast  until everything was done cooking.
When I got home I put the roast in the crock pot with a couple cups of water, carrots, potatoes, celery and seasoning.

Typically you cook it on low all day so the meat is super tender and flavorful. I had a late start so I cooked it on high for 4 hours. When it was done it looked beautiful! But once I tried to shred the meat, it wouldn't budge. That's when I called my mom for help and realized I got the wrong meat! hah! So I cut it up and it still tasted fabulous :)

Next time I'll make sure I buy the right meat! But I was also told I could use ground beef or tri tip as well.

14 week ultra sound

While chatting with my mom about finding out the gender of our baby, she was pretty sad she wouldn't be in town for my 20 week appointment. Then last week she told me the exciting news that she would be coming up this week and for me to book an appointment at Fetal Studio! At places like Fetal Studio they are able to tell you the gender as early as 14 weeks. The week seemed to go by Sooo slowly. I couldn't sleep, I was so excited to find out the gender!! I even took some polls. Of course most people figured it would be a girl, me included. You see, my Grandma had 3 daughters who each had 3 daughters of their own before having any boys. So far all of my siblings have had a girl first. I have12 nieces and 4 nephews! haha! I just knew I'd carry on the tradition in our family. Besides, Ian's family only has 3 nephews, it's about time we add a girl in the mix ;)
So the day finally arrived for my appointment. IT WAS ADORABLE! First the ultra sound tech showed us the baby's darling profile...

The baby was being so wiggly and cute! At one point it's hands were by it's face waving at us :) Then it stretched it's legs out kicking them up in the air. I started giggling with excitement! It was seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen!!

Next the hiccups came :) Totally adorable! He then showed us the heartbeat.. a strong 161 bpm, the brain (he said it has good brains.. very important! ha), then he showed between the legs!

IT'S A GIRL!!

Of course it's a girl :) I had no doubt in my mind otherwise! But I seriously loved every minute in that ultra sound room. With how many times I've stared at these photos in the past 24 hours, I kinda wish I would have paid the extra for a DVD of the whole thing. But I guess these photos will do. She's absolutely a doll already!
After the ultra sound my mom decided to take us cloths shopping :) Of course I didn't let her buy everything I loved and spent about $50 of my own on adorable little outfits!! Good thing we went to the clearance section! ha! But my mom told Ian to pick out an outfit and she'd buy it for him... this is what he picked...

Too cute!! I think our little girl is pullin on his heart strings already ;)

Homemade Chili

The other day I was complaining on Facebook for someone to cook me dinner. Then a friend of mine sent me a link to Pepper's Famous Chili. I decided to alter it a touch, since that's what I do best.

Here's what I used:
1 lb ground beef
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can kidneys beans with liquid
(I used white instead of black)
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans with liquid
1/2 cup diced onion
(don't put onions down the disposal. apparently it makes the water stink! or so says Ian. Sorry babe!!)
1/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp cumin
2 T. chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt

Brown beef and drain liquid. Crumble beef, put into crock pot and mix in all other ingredients. Cook for 2 hours (mine was on the 4 hour high setting).

While it was cooking I also made some mini loafs of Wheat Bread! :) The only problem with them this time is that I didn't wait long enough for them to raise. So it tore the bread while it cooked it. Oh well.. at least it taste good!

It was very tasty! Here's the original recipe. I underlined the differences. It was mostly just the fact that I used canned tomatoes instead of fresh.

Pepper's Famous Chili

1 lb ground beef
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) can kidneys beans with liquid
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans with liquid
2 med. tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp cumin
1 T chili powder (2 T. if you like it hot)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
1 cup water

One year ago...

I can't believe it's almost been a year since Ian and I moved into our first home! One year ago today we were in the process of going broke so we could put all the money down that goes with buying a home. hah
Having a home of our own has been such a big blessing in our lives. Yes, the house did come with quite a few fix me up jobs, but everything has turned out wonderfully thus far. It has truly been the best thing for our marriage, hands down. Life just keeps getting better and better for me and Ian! Not only did I have the opportunity to build a studio in my very own basement...

but we'll have plenty of room to grow in this home of ours. I'm getting excited to change my office into the baby's room and turn the downstairs guest room into my new office. Although I still have ways to go before I'll start putting the baby's room together. I'm still debating on whether or not I'm going to wait until I'm 20 weeks to find out what we're having or if I'm going to pay more at a fetal photo place where you can find out as early as 14 weeks. 2 weeks verses 2 months... hmmmmm.. what to do!?

We still have A LOT more that needs to be done to the home before a baby comes. I just know once this precious soul comes into our lives we wont have the time or money for any of these fixer jobs on our list. We'd still like to redo our bathrooms. We bought the tile forever ago, just haven't put them in because we want to put in new counters and sinks. My office also needs new carpet before the wee little one arrives. We don't trust this carpet since when we first moved in I found dog pee all over the corners in the room. Eventually some day we'll redo our kitchen, but I most definitely don't expect that to happen before the baby... or even close after the baby.

All in due time I suppose :)

12 week appointment

Well.. today was my 12 week appointment. I was super excited to see the baby again. A month between visits feels like FOREVER. I really wanted to see the little arms and legs forming and to bring home another ultra sound photo to post and show off. Instead, the Dr disappointed me by informing me that I only get THREE ultra sounds. 8 weeks, 20 weeks and 36 weeks. I was seriously devastated. We did get to hear the heartbeat though, but I had a hard time enjoying it because of how upset I was. I'm not exactly sure why it upset me so much. I seriously thought I'd get to bring home a little photo after every visit.
On the way to the car I started crying. I've had friends recently post their 12 week appointments. The little developing baby looks so adorable. . . and much cuter than a little bean photo you get at 8 weeks. Ian hugged me and told me everything would be fine. I'm sure it will be, but I'm still ticked off and emotional about it.
I've decided that I'm most likely going to go to a fetal photo place where they can figure out the gender of the baby as early as 14 weeks. Plus depending on the package you buy, you get 5 photos of the baby.. showing off the gender, hands, feet, profile and so on, PLUS a dvd of the ultra sound. So I may be doing that in a few weeks.
Until then, I can just assume that my baby looks like the photos in text books. Here is what my baby should look like right now...

I love the whole comparison of the baby to fruit thing. Right now my baby is almost the size of a Plum.

 I guess that's all I can really update about the baby. Kinda sad that I don't have more info.

Fruit Pizza

Since this weekend has been FULL of family get togethers, I volunteered to make a dessert for yesterdays dinner. I was browsing around through other cooking blogs and came across this girl who makes a TON of dessert. Her fruit pizza totally caught my eye. It was beeeautiful! Here's how you make it.

1 Pillsbury sugar cookie dough
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tub cool whip
2 TBSP vanilla
1 cup sliced strawberries *I used about 4 or 5 smaller strawberries*
1 cup sliced kiwi *I used 1. I'm not sure if I would have been able to fit a cup!*
1 cup sliced banana *again I used 1 banana*

Let dough come to room temp. then press into lightly greased 10 x 15 cookie sheet. Make sure it is thin and pressed all the way to the corners because it will rise as it bakes. Bake about 12 minutes at *350. Be careful not to over bake it... like I thought I did.
Once cookie has cooled, beat cream cheese, vanilla and cool whip. Spread evenly on cookie.

Top with fruit, except bananas. Save those for last so they don't go brown. Refrigerate while making glaze.

Glaze:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
2 TBSP lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Stir constantly until it thickens. Let it cool for about 5 - 10 minutes. Add bananas to pizza...

Drizzle glaze over the top and refrigerate for about an hour before slicing and serving. If you think you may have over cooked your cookie, the fridge will help soften it :)

The pizza was a big hit! I loved watching some of my sisters go back for 3rds or 4ths! hah. I'm happy to announce that I came home with an empty cookie sheet. Unlike my dip... if anyone wants fruit dip I have BUNCH left over. I will never double a dip batch ever again!
Annnnnnd... here's what my kitchen sink looked like by the end of the evening. With the help of Ian using the blender and other dishes for his own cooking experiments ;)

Pina Colada Fruit Dip

I got this super easy recipe from church a few weeks ago, but haven't had a reason to make it. Well tomorrow my niece is getting baptized and we're having a HUGE family gathering. Soo.. I made a HUUUUGE bowl of this dip! This is what I used...

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, un-drained
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
2 (3 oz) packages instant coconut pudding and pie filling. (although I couldn't find the coconut in instant, so I had to cook it and make it the old fashion way.)
The normal recipe asks for less milk, but the cooked pudding asks for 1 1/2 cups of milk per box. So, that's what I mixed together.

First I cooked the pudding with the milk. This took forever. I wish I would have found the instant. Then I dumped everything into the blender and blended it for 30 seconds.

Next I put it in a bowl to chill in the fridge. It says to chill for about 90 min. But with this big of a batch, and since the pudding was still hot from cooking, I'm thinking it needs to chill for about... FOREVER.

It turned out a little more runny than I expected. I'm not sure if that's because I used TOO much milk since I had to cook it, or maybe because I used 2% milk instead of whole... or possibly that it hasn't chilled long enough. Oh oh.. OR because I didn't let it cool and thicken before I blended it.

Oh well, it was still  yummy. I kept licking the spoons and even the pot after I cooked the pudding!

Here's the "normal" recipe if you want to make a smaller batch. Maybe it'll turn out better for you :)

SPA DAY!

Last Saturday was my first weekend off in a LONG time. I've been so busy with shoots that Ian and I haven't been on a date in MONTHS. To make up for it, Ian surprised me with a Spa day :)

On our way.. don't we look thrilled?! haha

 A little happier looking here. Well.. I am anyway. In our robes waiting for our massage!

Ian's after hair massage! bahaha so funny :) The massages were so amazing. All I could keep thinking was "man, I hope this never ends" but unfortunately.. it ended. We were SO tired after. Massages totally put you in the zone.... the sleepy zone. After the massages we headed straight over for pedicures. I swear they're supposed to give you some sort of foot massage. Did we get jipped?? It will still nice having my feet scrubbed and my toe nails painted. I get sick of Ian's long toe nails so it was nice to have his trimmed professionally! hah

After the Spa we headed to costco and I ate a GIANT slice of pizza! Sooo yummy. Our plan was to go home, take a nap, and head back out to the movies. Well... our nap turned into a full day and evening of rest. I was so pooped. So we just stayed home and watched movies :)
It was a great date day! Now Ian wants to get a pedicure somewhere cheaper and compare! ha.. I'm TOTALLY down.
Love you babe! Thanks for the hot date xoxo

Peanut

If you didn't get the proof on Facebook... WE'RE PREGNANT!
I was convinced to hold off on telling anyone until.. who knows when. But once family members started randomly asking me if I was pregnant I found it pointless to try and keep it quiet.

I had a hunch I was pregnant during our last trip to California. The day we got home I took 2 pregnancy tests and both showed positive! I'm more calm about this pregnancy. Obviously because I had a feeling that something wasn't right last time. I was able to hold the news in an entire month before sharing it with the world.

I know this pregnancy is 100% more normal from the last one. My emotions are different. My body is different. Everything just feels different. Not to mention I actually had a serious case of morning sickness last week. It was so bad I had to go to the hospital for an IV! Two days after my IV was my 8 week appointment.  I was so nice to finally be able to hear a little heart beat. Ian thought it sounded like a humming bird :)
Our little peanut (since that's about it's size right now) had a heart beat of 160 bmp. The doctor said that so far it sounds very healthy. A fast heartbeat is a good sign. When he measured peanut it was actually VERY tiny. Only 1.12 cm which measured me out to only being 7 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Not as far along as I thought.. which was a bummer.
Little peanut will makes it's debut around March 29th! Who knows.. I might have a baby for my birthday.

There's our little peanut as tiny as can be. They were able to do the ultra sound on my belly. Which was nice. Usually when you're this far along it's hard to capture the heartbeat through the belly.

This is peanut's heart beat. :)

I've looked at my measurements from the last pregnancy and here's what they were...
STARTING MEASUREMENTS:
weight: 131
bust: 34'
waist: 26'
belly: 32'
hips/bum: 36'

I should have measured myself again since I lost more weight. I got down to 128 and I'm sure the rest of the measurements would have been a touch different.  But anywho.. since THOSE measurements I've already gained 4 lbs. and inch around my bust, 3 inches around my waist, an inch around my belly, and my hips are the same. Totally nuts. I could tell my waist was filling out on Sunday. I felt like I had more of a manish figure. My 12 week appointment is the 9th of next month. Can't wait to see how different the baby looks!

Can't wait to meet you peanut! Stop making mommy sick.
It's not very enjoyable.

HELP! Recipes needed.

I need to get back into the routine of cooking again.
Does anyone have any recipes for me to try out?

Actually, post your favorite recipe OR one you'd rather have someone else test out for you first! I don't mind being the tester cook! hah

random silly thought

I've realized I say a lot of stupid things at weddings to accidentally embarrass myself. For instance.. quite a few times I've asked someone "oh are you the Grandma??" and their reply is ALWAYS "no. I'm the AUNT!" One of the time's she was actually the mother. Boy did I feel stupid after that one. I need to learn to ask.. oh are you the Aunt?! Then if she is the Grandma she'll feel good about herself! ha

During shoots I tend to call people by the color of their shirt. "red.. move to your left. green.. lower your chin". last month during a mixed wedding I said "I'm just going to call you by your color....... of the shirt that is" I felt horribly stupid and racist sounding after that. I'm seriously anything but racist. I swear! Someone save me from myself! ha

How do I learn to keep my mouth shut from these horrid comments I always make?!

Garlic Toast Pizza

Last night I made something SUPER easy (only because the garlic toast was store bought).

I threw some pizza sauce, cheese and pepperonis on the garlic toast, popped it in oven for 12-15 minutes at 350* and tada! Garlic Toast Pizza :)

It was quite yummy as well :) Now that there's just Ian and I... we have SOO many left overs in the fridge! Ahh I hate left overs! haha

Mini Shepherd Pies

I've never had Shepherd Pie before.. let alone ever HEARD of it. But when I came across this recipe I decided to try it out.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups mashed potatoes
3 ounces cream cheese
1 batch biscuit dough
1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat til meat is browned. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute or until tender; drain. Stir in the ketchup, vinegar and salt; set aside.

Make the biscuit dough and shape into tablespoon sized blobs. I just used premade biscuit dough. Although I should have gotten the HUGE biscuit dough because you're supposed to press 1  dough ball onto the bottom and up the sides of each of 10 greased muffin cups. Mine wasn't big enough to go up the side of the muffin cup!
Next you fill with beef mixture.

 In a small saucepan, whisk together your mashed potatoes. Beat in cream cheese until smooth. Spread potato mixture over beef. Sprinkle with cheese; press down lightly.

 Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Like I said before, I've never had this before. So I wasn't sure what to expect. It was kinda different. Good, but different. :)

Let's play catch up!

Bah! I'm getting horrible at this!

May 22nd I was in California for Kyle and Sarah's wedding.
That trip was pure business and no play for me!

I started out in Bakersfield photographing Sky and Cat's engagements on a piano :)

 You can see more pictures HERE
After their engagements Ian and I headed to LA for Kyle and Sarah's wedding!

So far this is everyone's favorite! HA.. see more photos HERE
When we got home I had the chance to photograph my cousin's engagements. He and his fiance Mandy are soooo cute and totally awesome!!

 Again go HERE for more photos
After David and Mandy's engagements and a few other shoots, I photographed Sarah's bridals. TOTALLY beautiful. You must see THESE!

This past Saturday was Kyle and Sarah's open house!

I got a LOT of compliments on all the photos I took of them as well as the cute decorations I came up with :) See more photos HERE.
So far that's been my life the past few weeks!
Next weekend I'll be in California AGAIN photographing Sky and Cats wedding at a winery in Templeton. Totally excited for the fun photos we'll be getting there!!
Maybe I'll get around to cooking again........maybe.

Happy Anniversary!

Two years ago today I went out and got myself married to Mr. Hottie Pants himself :) Here's a little reflection of our wedding photos and such.

Our engagements..

Bridals...

Wedding day...

My wedding cake... I LOVED it :)

A year later we took Trash The Dress photos to make up for our lack of amazing engagement/wedding photos...

Love you Ian xoxo